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Supporting physical development in early childhood
Supporting physical development in early childhood

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5.5 The development of FMS in your setting

When observing movements, it can be useful to refer to skill cards to help identify the stages of development a child is at for each part of a movement. In the next activity, examples of these are provided for you to refer to.

Child smiling whist playing with a toy
Figure 10

Activity 7

Using these skill cards (pdf) [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)]   as a guide, expand the notes you made on your observations about specific development points for each skill in Activity 6.

(Open the skill cards in a new tab or window by holding down Ctrl (or Cmd on a Mac) when you click on the link). A text only version is also available.

You may wish to go back to the previous section to watch Video 1 again once you have looked through each card.

Give a short explanation of how you could further support the development of that FMS in your setting.

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It is worth noting that the development of a movement is not a linear process, it can be spikey, can involve regression and plateaus, especially during phases of rapid growth. Progress can often emerge in another developmental domain, e.g. new friendships/use of language/practising sequencing of skills through play, etc.